[Oleson M.D.]

The R-12SW is on sale at Costco, for $169. That includes free shipping to your front door. I bought two of them.

Ok...after living with these two subs, they are performing at a level that is way above their pay-grade!

Smooth bass lines literally roll across the seats in my theater. With great low end. Tight and clean...yes, really. These sound so good that I actually enjoy the music tracks in some commercials on TV.

These are positioned in the rear inner corners in the theater. Having an all around bass sound (4 subs, 2 front, 2 rear) has done wonders for soundtracks in movies like Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge, etc.

Yes, there are better ($$$) subs available. But to realize a significant upgrade in overall performance, you would have to spend several multiples of the current $169 price tag.

Anyone who is looking for a bargain, this is your chance. And you will not be disappointed.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Not the best sub as you said, but possibly the best at that price! Congrats on the score!

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Not the best sub as you said, but possibly the best at that price! Congrats on the score!

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

These are older models, having been replaced by the R-120SW. Not sure about the original price when introduced, but probably $300+. They have been listed at $250 for a long time now, but recently dropped to $169 at Costco.

These actually sound nice and compliment the other subs in my theater. While war movie sound tracks excel with bomb blasts, these subs perform surprisingly well with music.

The real secret to getting good performance with the R-12SW subs is positioning/location, plus selecting a good x-over frequency (mine are below 120 hz), and adjusting the level to blend into the system.

If you pay attention to these details, you will be rewarded with decent sound.

The largest compliment is this...when playing one of these in my 2 channel stereo set up, it provided a very nice extension and presence to bass guitar lines. It almost disappeared into the background. But when I turned the R-12SW off, there became an obvious huge “hole” in the music. I did not know what has been missing!

The music CD’s for auditioning were Matt Bianco - featuring Basia, Gordon Godwin’s Big Phat Band, and the 1812 Overture, by Tchaikovsky. Each of these feature prominent bass lines, and are well recorded. The cannon “booms” in the 1812 Overture are a great test for a sub.

And the fact these are priced so low makes them sound even sweeter!

edit: These have been at my house for 7 days. If there are any issues going forward, I’ll post it here.

edit #2: I did not subject these to any "torture tests", other than the high db bomb blasts in the war movies mentioned.

Klipsch R-12SW Subwoofer | Klipsch

The Reference R-12SW subwoofer uncovers what you've been missing in your music, movies and games -- clean chest-thumping bass.

www.klipsch.com

https://www.costco.com/klipsch-r-12sw-reference-powered-subwoofer.product.100526745.html

 

[willis7469]

Just curious. You have a pretty nice equipment list already. Why did you choose the Klipsch subs?

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Just curious. You have a pretty nice equipment list already. Why did you choose the Klipsch subs?

The equipment list is:

Main L&R = Klipsch RF-7 III
Center = Klipsch RC-64 II
Front Height = Klipsch RP-160M
Side Surrounds = Klipsch RB 81 II
Rear Surrounds = Klipsch RP-160M
Rear Ambience = Klipsch RB 61 II
Front Subs = Madisound, 12"
Rear Subs = Klipsch R-12 SW

Yamaha CXA-5200 Processor
Power Amps = All B&K and Emotiva (separates for each channel)

I chose the R-12SW's because of performance, and price level. The primary function of these is for movie soundtracks, LFE.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Just when you thought it was over...the R-12SW subs are on sale again! $169 gets you a decent sub, that will perform well for music, and sound track LFE. On sale at Costco.

We have two of these in the rear of our theater. Working in concert with the two subs up front, we get a room full of bass / LFE. You have to hear (feel) it to believe it.

I honestly thought having 4 subs was overkill. Well...I was wrong. After living with these for awhile now, we are extremely pleased. Highly recommended.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Here we go, round 3!
On sale now at Costco for a paltry $149! We have two in the rear of our dedicated theater, and picked up another one today for a bedroom!

 

[Freshy]

This is an excellent sub for $150! REW analysis doesn’t do it a lot of favors before 30hz but it has a really nice chest punch and kicks butt with music.